Folding bed.



G.G.FULLER.

FOLDING BED.

APPLIOATION FILED m1111118, 1910.

Patented July 11,1911.

s SHEETS-SHEET 1.

n' La@ S2/f 5 anto@ @vilt/@6000; L I M" y1^ Lawton-L mi 5f@ @54 y G. o. 11111111311.l

FOLDING BED. l Y' APPLIUATION FILED JUNE 18, 1910.

997,284, Patented July 11, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA 'um U0.. WASI'IINGPEHI, D. G

. G. C. FULLER.

FOLDING BED. APPLICATION FILED JUNE18, 1910.

Patented July 11,1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

.l lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllfl/ 'commu summum co., wAsHvla-run, n. c.

GAIUS C. FULLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FOLDING BED.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 11, 1'911.

Application filed'June 18, 1910. Serial No. 567,620.

To all whom fit may concern:

Be it known that l, GAIUs C. FULLER, a citizen lof the United States, and a resident of New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Beds, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to folding beds and particularly to metal beds, and it hasfor its objects the construction of a bed that shall be light and durable; simple of construction, and therefore cheap to manufacture; and which may be readily folded so that it will occupy a small space. Y Y

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the bedwill be held in its extended and folded positions against accidental operat-ion, whereby the bed will be safe and reliable in operation.

A further object of the invention is to'provide means whereby the mattress-supporting portion of t-he bed may be set and locked at any desired inclination, this feature being particularly desirable in beds for use in ospitals and the like.

A further objectof the invention vis to so construct and proportion the head and foot boards of the bed that the foot board will be smaller than the head board, and that' both of said boards may be of the usual stand# ard stock sizes. The Object of this is to permit beds to be made up with head and foot boards which 'may be obtained in the open market so that they neednot be specially manufactured in order to Vcarry out this in vention.

With these and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinafter more particu'- larly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, vand will then be pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the bed in its extended position, the mattress-supporting frame being shown as inclined from the foot board downwardly toward the head board; Fig. 2 a side elevation showing a slightly modified form of the bed; Fig. 3 an end elevation of the bed extended, looking at the foot board thereof; Fig. 4; a detail sectional view of onecorner of the mattress-supporting frame, showing the means for holding said frame in an inclined position; Fig. 5 a side elevation of the modified form of the bed illustrated in Fig. 2, Showing the bed in as foidea posiy tion; Fig. 6 a detail side elevation of thef of the device shown in Fig. 6,; Fig. 8 a transverse sectional view thereof; and Fig. 9 a

detail longitudinal'sectional yview of the holding spring compressing device shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the various parts by numerals, 1 designates the mattress-supporting frame which is provided with the end pieces Y 2 and carries the mattress-supporting springs 3. This frame may be of any suitable construction and is preferably formed entirely of metal. Y

The head of the bed consists of the upright frame 4, to the vertical side bars of which are secured the forwardly-extending supplemental side frames 5. These side frames are only as high as the mattress-supporting frame when said frame is in its normal horizontal position. On the upper. bars of these supplemental frames are secured inwardly extending bearing lugs 6 on which are pivoted the bars 1 of the spring-,supporting frame, said pivots being located a suitable distance from the adjoiningend piece 2 of said frame,V as shown clearly in Fig. 1. These supplemental side frames are formed with brace rods 7 and 8 and are provided with casters 9. i

The foot board 10 isof less width than the headboard and is adapted to fitiin between the side frames 5- of the head board, when the bed is in its folde'dposition, the relative widthsk of the head andthe foot boards being clearly rshown in Fig. 3. Secured to the vertical side bars 11 of the foot board,'at

withthe upper bars of the supplemental or sides frames 5 are secured lugs 13. To the lugs 1.2 are secured upwardly and inwardlyextending links 14:, the upper inner ends of said links being connected to lugs 16 carried by the bars 1. To the lugs 13 are'secured upwardly and inwardly-extending links 17, the inner ends of these links being connected to lugs 18 carried by the bars 1 of the mat-V tress-supporting frame, the lugs 18 and 16 being located a suitable distance from each other, and the lugs 16 being locatedV approximately midway between the end bars 2 of themattress-supporting frame. Y The `the 'lower ends thereof,'are lugs 12; and to V- said bars at a point substantially on the levelr lugs 18 are arranged between the lugs 16 and the foot board of the bed so that the links 17 are considerably shorter than the links 14.

Depending from the end pieces 2 adj oining the foot board of the bed, are lugs 19 to which are connected the rear ends of cylinders 20. Pivotally connected to the links 14 a suitable distance down from their pivotal connection with the lugs 16, are cylinders 21, the rear ends of these cylinders being within the cylinders 20. Disposed within the cylinders are coil expansion springs 23 which tend to separate said cylinders and to move them longitudinally. The pivotal point between the cylinder 21 and the link 14 is so arranged that when the bed is in its full-extended position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the cylinder 21 will be projected into the cylinder 20 to a considerable extent and the spring 23 thereby compressed. As the foot board end of the mattress-supporting frame is raised, the springtends to expand, thereby assisting in elevating the mattress frame. After the bed has been elevated to a certain extent, the spring will have expanded to its normal position and its lifting power then ceases. In lowering the mattress frame, the two cylinders will be drawn together thereby compressing the spring and to a certain extent cushioning the action of the bed in assuming its normally extended position.

On the headboard end of the mattresssupporting frame is mounted a spring latch 22 which is adapted to engage the lower rail 22a of the foot board when the bed is in its folded position, thereby holding the bed against accidental operation, it being necessary to release said latch before the bed can be extended. This end of the mattress frame is also provided with a lug stop 22b which is adapted to Contact with the rail 22a and to stop the mattress frame in a vertical position. If desired, the latch may be dispensed with and the lug stop alone used.

Connected to the foot board end of the inattress-supporting frame is a curved notched bar 24 which is adapted to engage the rear end of the link 17, a sliding keeper 25 being carried by said notched bar and adapted to hold the said link and the notched bar in engagement. By means of this bar, the foo-t board end of the mattress-supporting frame may be held at any desired elevation. This is desirable, particularly in cots and beds used in hospitals.

Referring to the construction shown in Figs. 2 and 5, the links 14a have connected to them bars 21a entering the side frames 1a of the mattress-supporting frame, said bars 21il being connected to a socket piece 26 slidable in said frame, one end of said socket piece being connected to a holding spring 23a. The operation of this bar 21a and `extended or lowered position.

spring 23il is precisely the same as the spring 23 in assisting in raising the foot board end of the mattress frame. One end of the spring 23a is rigidly connected to a part of the side bar 1a, as shown clearly in Fig. 5.

The socket piece 26 is formed with the openings 27 and the cross pieces 2S at intervals there-along in order that the bar 21a may be projected through any one of said openings and engaged with the registering cross-bar in order to vary the tension of the holding spring.

In the form of head board illustrated in Figs. 2 and 5, the side bar 1a is provided with a leg 29 carrying a caster 30 at its lower end and the head board proper is provided with a caster 30b1 which normally extends rearwardly from the head board. In this construction, the head board is rigidly connected to the side bar 1l of the mattress-supporting frame, and the lower end of the head board is connected to the lower end of the leg 29 by means of a curved runner or rocker 31. It is, therefore, clear that in moving the mattress frame to a vertical position, the said frame and the head board will rock on the ruimer or rocker 31 until the caster 30at bears on the floor or other support, so that the said caster 30at supports the bed in its folded position while the caster 30 supports the bed in its The upper portion 32 of the head board is hinged to the lower rigid part 33 thereof so that when the bed is in its upright or folded position, said upper hinged portion of the head board may be folded into a folded position parallel with the mattress-supporting frame, as shown clearly in Fig. 5.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a folding bed, the combination of a pair of supporting members, a bed frame, a pair of links pivoted to the bed frame and to one of said supporting members on the same side, and a spring device connected to one of said links and to the bed frame, said spring device being arranged to be compressed when the bed is extended, and to expand when the bed frame is elevated.

2. In a folding bed, the combination of a pair of supporting members, a bed frame pivotally supported by one of said members, a pair of links connecting the side bars of the bed frame with the other supporting member, one of said links being shorter than the other, and a spring device connected to the longer of said links and to the bed frame, said spring device being arranged to be compressed when the beol is extended, and to expand when the bed is folded.

3. In a folding bed, the combination of a head board and a foot board, supplemental side frames connected to the head board, a

bed frame pivotally supported within the said side frames, a pair of links connecting the bed frame to the foot board one of said links being shorter than the other, a springV device connected to the longer of said links near its pivotal connection with the bed frame, said spring device being pivotally connected to the bed frame near the foot board end of said frame and serving to assist in elevating the foot board end of the bed frame.`

t. A folding bed comprising ahead board and a foot board, supplemental side frames carried by the head board, a bed frame pivoted between said side frames, a pair of links pivotally connected tothe bed frame approximately midway between the ends thereof, one of said links being connected to the foot board near the lower end thereof and the other being connected to the foot board approximately at the level of the pivotal connection between the bed frame and the head board, a spring device connected to the link which extends from the bed frame to the lower end of the foot board, the other end of said spring device being connected to the end of the bed frame near the foot board, whereby said spring will be compressed when the bed frame is lowered and will assist in raising the foot yboard end of the said bed frame.

5. A folding` bed comprising a foot board, a head board, a bed frame pivotally supported by the head board, a pair of links connecting the bed frame with the foot board, a notched bar carried by the bed frame near the foot board, said notched bar being adapted to engage one of the links connected to the foot board and to the bed frame to hold the bed frame in an inclined position.

6. A folding bed comprising a head board,

a foot board, a bed frame pivotally supported by the head board, a foldable frame connecting the foot board with the bed Copies of this patent may be obtained for Washington, D. C.

frame,Y and a bar forming an adjustable 8. A folding bed comprising a head board.

a foot board, a bed frame pivotallyv supported `by the head board, a foldable frame connecting the foot board with the bed frame7 and an adjustable toothed bar heldl to the bed frame and engaging the folding frame to hold said bed frame in various positions.

9. A folding bed comprising a headboard,

a foot board7 a bed frame pivotally sup-V portedk by the head board, a pair .of pivoted links connecting the bed frame with the foot board, one of said links being shorter than the other and the shorter link being substantially horizontal when the bed frame is in its normal open horizontal position.

l0. A folding bed comprising a pair of supporting members, a bed frame pivotally vsupported by one of said members, a pair of links pivotallyconn'ected at separated points to the bed frame the other ends of said links being pivotallyV connected at separated points on the other supporting member, one of said links being shorter than the other and said shorter link being substantially horizontal when the bed frame is Y in a horizontal position.

This specification signed and witnessed this lifth day of June A. D. 1910.

Witnesses:

` W. A. TowNnR, Jr

C. BARTELS.-

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

onlus o. inumana.v 

